Will Apple TV be ready for Christmas?

BuzzFeed, of all places, is driving the Apple news cycle this morning.

The top story on Techmeme, picked up by at least three dozen tech news sites, is a report on BuzzFeed News that Apple is set to release a new Apple TV in two stages:

A new set-top box, software development kit (SDK) and app store in September.

New streaming content—TV shows and sporting events, etc.—later, maybe not until 2016.

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BuzzFeed’s sourcing is a little fuzzy—”sources familiar with Apple’s plans”—and the same reporter, John Paczkowski, told us in March that the big reveal was going to be in June.

But Paczkowski knows his stuff, and his new story has veteran Apple watchers like John Gruber scratching their heads:

“One of the theories bandied about when WWDC came and went without any Apple TV announcements,” he writes, “was that Apple didn’t want to announce the new Apple TV until the subscription TV service was ready, too. According to Paczkowski, though, that’s exactly what they’re going to do in September. My guess: Apple held it back for September to have something significantly ‘new’ to announce alongside the new iPhones. Last year, that was Apple Watch; this year, it’s Apple TV.”

That makes it sound like Apple is sequencing the release by design. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster doesn’t see it that way.

“If you want to make a statement, you do both parts at once,” he says. “The reality is that things on the content side have been painfully difficult for Apple. They just haven’t been able to pull it all together at once.”

I’m trying to imagine what kind of advertising we’ll see from Apple this holiday season. For sure they’ll be pushing the Apple Watch as a Christmas gift. Plus whatever new they have to offer in the way of iPhones. But what are they going to say about the new Apple TV? Put one under the tree this Christmas so you can cut the cable TV cord next year?

Apple wins an Internet of Things beauty contest

If there ever was a product category that needed a better name, it’s the Internet of Things—awkwardly abbreviated IoT.

Gartner estimates that there will be nearly 26 billion devices on the IoT grid by 2020, each with their own unique IP address.

Who will make those billions of smart devices is still very much up for grabs.

One of first out of the gate, an Internet-connected thermostat created by former Apple VP Tony Fadell, was purchased by Google in January 2014 for $3.2 billion.

But Google is not the brand that came first—or second, or even third—in the minds of 1,157 U.S. adults surveyed earlier this months by ThroughTek.

Apple came in first, ahead of Samsung.

Google, to ThroughTek’s surprise, came in fourth, after Amazon

From the press release:

“The report found nearly half of consumers aware of IoT devices on the market are most familiar with Apple’s IoT devices (48%), while surprisingly only 13 percent are most familiar with Google’s connected devices. Rounding this ranking are Samsung (22%) and Amazon (15%). Beyond familiarity, regarding purchase preference, one in four consumers noting a top preference of an IoT brand most prefer Apple (29%), whereas nearly one in five prefer Samsung (19%), 14 percent Google and 10 percent Amazon. However, one in four consumers lack a clear preference of any brand’s IoT device.”

“Although Apple is the most recognized name,” said ThroughTek’s Daniel Collins, “consumers lack a clear understanding of IoT devices currently available and the benefits provided by each.”

One benefit of Apple: Whatever the Internet of Things turns out to be, Cupertino will come up a catchier name.

Apple visitor’s center will offer views of Steve Jobs’ Spaceship

The real-estate reporter for the Silicon Valley Business Journal has uncovered a building in the plans for Apple’s $5 billion Spaceship campus that no one else noticed.

Buried in city documents filed this spring, Nathan Donato-Weinstein found detailed architect’s drawings and artist’s renderings of a visitor’s center with cafe, retail shop and rooftop observation deck.

The center is not part of the new Cupertino campus. It’s set across the street, at 10700 N. Tantau Ave., facing the southeast quadrant of the Pentagon-sized headquarters.

According to Donato-Weinstein:

“The plans show a super-modern glass-walled structure topped by a carbon-fiber roof with extended eaves, punctuated by large skylights. On the ground floor: A 2,386-square-foot cafe and 10,114-square-foot store “which allows visitors to view and purchase the newest Apple products.” Stairs and elevators take visitors to the roof level, about 23 feet up. There, they’ll be able to behold the multi-billion-dollar campus, a kind of monument to the late co-founder and Apple’s tremendous money machine.”

A screen will block visitor’s views into the backyards of the single-family homes behind them.

Below: The view from the north. The Spaceship is over the bike rider’s right shoulder.

Gillis is one of only two analysts willing to bet that that the stock will be worth less in 12 months than it is today. The other is that perpetual Apple bear, Berenberg’s Adnaan Ahmad. He’s been telling his clients to sell Apple since June 9, 2014.

Below: excerpts from their most recent notes.

Colin Gillis: Prepare for slowing growth. “Apple makes wonderful hardware and has nicely integrated it with a software operating system. Its other software products and services layer can be considered merely adequate, in our opinion. Does anyone really love using iTunes? Do you truly consider the App store a polished product with curated suggestions that can’t be improved? … We are modeling growth on a year-over-year basis to slow starting in the December quarter of 2016. We are not factoring in revenue from new products that are not announced such as TV, but we are factoring in an iPhone and iPad refresh. While we respect that 73% of the installed base has not upgraded to a 6/6+, and this is going to be driver, the yearly comparison becomes increasingly difficult starting in the December quarter. We do not see that Apple has much room left to increase the ASP of the iPhone, increasing its dependence on growth by driving more units through the channel. Finally, the capital return program has completed $126 billion of the $200 billion plan, and share repurchase activity is slowing as the company spends its domestic cash.” Rating: Hold. Price target: $115.

Adnan Ahmad: Kissing Goodbye. “Investors often ask us: “What is going to crack the stock?”… It’s always a tough question to answer and especially so in the past year given the strong performance of the iPhone—the sole business that matters for the stock. While we do not focus on quarterly numbers, these results support our note after Apple’s Q2 results (Over-earning, over-loved and over-and-out?), where we suggested Apple’s iPhone momentum would have to start to slow down… Over the course of the next few days, weeks and months, we think investors are going to start to “kiss goodbye” to the stock and rotate into internet names such as Google, a trade that has probably already started to happen.” Sell. $85.

Kids say the darnedest things about the Apple Watch

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” —Steve Jobs, Businessweek. 1998.

The sample of respondents in the attached video—eight minutes of kids seeing the Apple Watch for the first time—is hardly scientific. These are tech-savvy L.A. schoolchildren who have their own iPhones.

But their comically theatrical responses mirror pretty accurately the reactions I get when I show friends and relatives my Apple Watch.

This, Sir Jony, is what “mixed reviews” look like:

Putting on the watch: “I can’t do this. Does anyone know how to do this?”

Hearing that the Watch needs an iPhone: “Are you serious?” “That’s just dumb.”

After pressing the digital crown: “Ooo. Appy!”

The app interface: “It’s all in one little cluster. So it’s really hard to find stuff.”

The telephone feature: “You look like a spy, just talking into your watch while you’re walking down the street.”

The utility: “It has the things that a normal phone has, but it’s not as good as a phone.”

Who needs it? “Nobody really needs a smartphone. Nobody needs this either. You don’t need a TV either, but it’s a cool thing to have.”

How do you feel about it? “It’s cool but I don’t need it but I really really want it.”

The bottom line: “It’s an accessory. It’s going to catch on, but it’s not going to be as common as the iPhone.”

Let’s go to the video:

Thanks to John Gruber for the link to the Fine Brother’s Emmy award-winning Kids React series (12.8 million subscribers on YouTube).

Steve Jobs movie gets prestigious film festival slot

The new Steve Jobs biopic just landed a prestigious spot in this fall’s New York Film Festival, putting the movie in award-winning company.

The film, called Steve Jobs and starring actor Michael Fassbender in the title role, is the latest biopic to tackle the subject of the Apple AAPL cofounder (after 2013’s Jobs) and it’s one of two films about Jobs due to hit theaters this year, with the other being Alex Gibney’s documentary. And, on Tuesday, the NYFF announced that Fassbender-as-Jobs will screen as the festival’s “centerpiece” film on October 3, a week before its wide release. Films featured as the festival’s centerpiece feature in recent years include Oscar-nominated fare such as 2014’s Inherent Vice, 2011’s My Week With Marilyn, and 2007’s No Country For Old Men.

Produced and distributed by Comcast’s CMCSA Universal, the new biopic already had plenty of awards buzz thanks to its star (Fassbender was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar last year) as well as director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours) and writer Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network and 127 Hours).

“Steve Jobs is dramatically concentrated, yet beautifully expansive; it’s extremely sharp; it’s wildly entertaining, and the actors just soar—you can feel their joy as they bite into their material,” NYFF Director and selection committee chair Kent Jones said in a statement.

Google joins chorus of companies backing LGBT bill

Add Google to the list of major companies voicing their support for proposed legislation that would ban discrimination against members of the LGBT community.

The online search giant on Tuesday joined the likes of FacebookFB, General Mills GIS, and Nike NKE in publicly backing the Equality Act, a landmark anti-discrimination bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The Equality Act seeks to expand existing civil rights protections against racial and gender-based discrimination in the workplace and other public spheres to include safeguards against sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Diverse perspectives, ideas, and cultures lead to the creation of better products and services and ideas,” a Google GOOG spokeswoman told Fortune in an e-mail Tuesday. “And it’s the right thing to do. That’s why we support protections for LGBT Americans as outlined in the Equality Act.”

Other companies to announce support for the bill include Apple AAPL, American Airlines AAL, the Dow Chemical Company DOW, and Levi Strauss.

Fortune reached out to a handful of other large U.S. companies on Tuesday to ask about their respective stances on the Equality Act. An IBM IBM spokesman said the company is still reviewing the proposed legislation. “IBM has a long standing commitment to equal opportunity, including LGBT employees,” the spokesman added. Fortune will add other firms’ responses as we hear back.

An increasing number of large corporations have embraced LGBT rights over the past few months. Earlier this year, tech companies Salesforce and Apple — whose CEO, Tim Cook, is openly gay — along with GE were among the most vocal critics of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which opponents argued allows for discrimination against gay and lesbian employees. Walmart WMT has also become an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, particularly in its home state of Arkansas, where the nation’s largest private employer was joined by rival Target TGT in speaking out against that state’s religious freedom bill. Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment on the Equality Act.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include additional statements/comments from companies in support of the Equality Act.

As of Wednesday morning, Amazon AMZN, General Electric GE, and Hewlett-Packard HPQ have all sent additional statements to Fortune in support of the Equality Act. A Twitter TWTR spokesperson also confirmed that the company supports the proposed legislation. Read the companies’ full statements below:

Amazon’s e-mailed statement: “Amazon has a long history of supporting equality and we welcome the efforts of Senators Merkeley, Baldwin, and Booker, and Representatives Cicilline and Lewis, to provide full equality for LGBT individuals.”

GE: “Full federal rights for the LGBT community are a necessity, and we support comprehensive federal LGBT anti-discrimination legislation. In a globally competitive environment, it is essential we have fair laws that encourage inclusiveness and diversity and that insure we attract the best talent.”

HP: “HP has long believed in equality for all people and supports the Equality Act without hesitation.”

Own a Nike+ Fuelband? You could be eligible for a refund

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit first brought against Nike and Apple in 2013, and the net result is that some consumers who purchased Nike+ FuelBands are now eligible for either $15 cash or $25 Nike gift cards.

The suit alleged that “false and/or misleading statements were made regarding the Nike+ FuelBand’s ability to accurately track calories, steps, and NikeFuel, and that there were breaches of the warranty terms of the Nike+ FuelBand,” according to the website created to publicize the settlement’s terms, NikeFuelBandSettlement.com. Both Nike and Apple “deny the claims in the lawsuit and maintain that they did nothing wrong or illegal,” yet decided to settle “in order to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and distraction of continued litigation.”

Under the terms of the settlement, consumers who purchased a Nike+ FuelBand—a fitness-tracking device worn on the wrist that sells for $100 to $250—between January 19, 2012, and June 17, 2015, can receive a payment of $15 in the form of a check, or a $25 gift card valid at Nike stores and Nike.com. Claim forms are available at NikeFuelBandSettlement.com.

The Wall Street Journal noted that while Nike NKE was among the first major companies to get into fitness trackers, the market has since grown crowded with devices from FitBit, JawBone, and others. Many fitness trackers can be purchased today for about $50. Starting around 2014, Nike began shifting its focus away from fitness-tracking hardware, though the Nike+ app is featured on the Apple Watch.

Apple Music just passed a major milestone

The music site Hits Daily Double reports that Apple Music has netted over 10 million users since its launch four weeks ago. The report only uses anonymous “inside sources at some of the major labels,” so the veracity of the statistic is far from sure.

But despite the sketchy sourcing, the report holds some water. During Apple’s AAPL third quarter earnings call last week, Tim Cook said “millions and millions of new customers are already experiencing the new service using a three-month trial period.” Apple Music, which offers streaming and radio services, has already signed on more than 15,000 artists — even a reluctant Taylor Swift.

If the report is true, 10 million users in one month a remarkably quick uptake: Spotify took five and a half years to reach its first 10 million paying users.

It’s worth noting, however, that free trial users are a far cry from paying subscribers. iPhone owners across 100 countries were prompted to download the service free of charge if they opened the Music app on iOS 8.4. And unlike Spotify, Apple Music does not offer free versions of the service, so it won’t have a bloated “active user” statistic to boast besides its paying base. So when a credit card prompt appears in three months time on the screens of the supposed 10 million users, that number might plummet.